Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet

Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet
July 2016
Robots are an increasingly common sight in U.S.
law enforcement agencies. These unmanned ground
vehicles are used for roles that are deemed too
hazardous for law enforcement officers, such as
inspecting and disarming explosive ordnance.
The influx of robots into civilian law enforcement
agencies follows the widespread integration of
unmanned vehicles into the U.S. military, where
they have played an important role—particularly
in explosive ordnance disposal operations—in
Iraq and Afghanistan. During the invasion of
Afghanistan, for example, the U.S. Army used an
iRobot 310 Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle to
search mountain caves for members of al-Qaeda.
During the war in Iraq, the Army purchased
thousands of robots to for use by bomb disposal
teams.
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF),
or the Customs and Border Protection agency
(CBP).
As these wars have wound down, the Pentagon has
transferred a growing number of these robots to
U.S. law enforcement agencies. These exchanges
take place under what’s known as the 1033 Program,
a Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services
(DLA) initiative to reutilize, transfer, donate, or
sell excess military equipment to civil agencies.
The 1033 Program covers the transfer of a wide
variety of usable property items each year, including
many robots. While most of the robots that are
acquired by police are intended for primarily for
bomb disposal, they may also be utilized for other
missions such as reconnaissance and entering a
building ahead of a squad.
Besides the 1033 Program, law enforcement
agencies have also acquired robots using
federal funds from the Department of Justice or
Department of Homeland Security. Most of these
funds are directed towards federal agencies such as
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of
We have analyzed public 1033 transfer data
as well as public contract announcements in
order to identify robots currently in use by
domestic law enforcement agencies. This is only
a partial accounting based on publicly available
source materials and should not be viewed as a
comprehensive list of every robot currently in
service with U.S. police, nor does it reflect the total
amount that has been spent on this technology
by police. The data does not include, for example,
robot procurement carried out by individual offices
without federal assistance.
Key Findings
•
•
•
•
The rate of transfers to law enforcement
agencies has increased from less than 10
transfers each year prior to 2010 to over 200
transfers so far in 2016.
A majority of robots were transferred to local
law enforcement, and just under a third of all
robots were transferred to 20 federal agencies.
The total initial value of all the robot equipment
transferred to law enforcement agencies was
$55.2 million.
The most frequently transferred robot was the
Exponent MARCbot IV.
By Dan Gettinger and Arthur Holland Michel
Copyright © 2016 Center for the Study of the Drone. All Rights Reserved.
Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet
Findings: 1033 Program
Top Agencies Transfers and Units
Within the 1033 public records, which are current
up to May 2016, we have identified at least
717 transfers of unmanned systems to 280 law
enforcement agencies across the country. These
transfers included 987 items (in numerous cases,
a single transfer included more than one robot).
These agencies included local, state, and federal
entities; 248 local agencies received 597 items, 13
state agencies received 31 items, and 19 federal
agencies received 359 items.
Transfers by Agency Type
Unique
Agencies
Total
Transfers
Total
Units
Police
139
328
348
Sheriff
109
243
249
DOJ/FBI
10
73
311
State
10
25
25
DOJ/ATF
3
24
24
Highway
3
6
6
2
3
1
CIA
Departament
Transfers
Units
DOJ/FBI San Francisco,
CA
40
139
Covina PD, CA
34
34
West Covina PD, CA
22
22
LA County Sheriff, CA
22
22
Allen Co Sheriff, OH
21
21
Greeley PD, CO
16
16
DOJ/ATF Wichita, KS
11
11
Law Enf VA Fire Marshal
11
11
Las Vegas Metro PD
North, NV
2
99
Agencies in 43 states received transfers. California
received the most transfers, a total of 167, followed
by Ohio, Alabama, and Virginia.
Top States by Transfers and Units
State
Transfers
Units
4
CA
167
272
10
10
OH
40
40
1
3
5
AL
35
40
DOJ/Bureau of
Prisons
1
1
4
VA
33
35
DOJ/Marshal
1
1
1
AZ
32
53
Total
280
717
987
WA
30
29
CO
28
28
TX
28
125
KS
23
23
NM
22
22
DHS/Immigration and Customs
Enforcement
DHS/Customs and
Border Protection
FBI San Francisco is the single agency that received
the most transfers, followed by FBI Los Angeles and
the Covina Police Department in California. FBI
Dallas received the most units: 99 in total.
Transfers by Agency Level
Local
State
Federal
Total
Unique Agencies
248
13
19
280
Transfers
571
31
115
717
Units
597
31
359
987
These transfers have been occurring at an increasing
rate. In 2011 there were 43 transfers, in 2014 there
were 143. There have been 201 transfers so far in
2016.
*Note: This data only reflects transfers of robots that
are still in use as of July 2016.
Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet
Transfers by Year
Transfers by Unit Model Type
Year
Transfers
Model
Units
2003
3
MARCbot IV
433
2005
3
PackBot 510
220
2006
1
SUGV
82
2010
4
MK3Mod0
75
2011
43
2012
97
Other
177
2013
141
2014
143
2015
81
2016
201
The total initial value of all the robots acquired
by law enforcement through the 1033 program
is $55,232,278. A variety of systems have been
transferred, ranging from small cheap systems to
large expensive units. Just under half of all acquired
systems, 471 out of 987, initially cost between
five and ten thousand dollars. Four hundred and
twenty-three units cost $50,000 or more.
*Note: the acquisition cost represents the value
of the item when it was acquired by the DoD.
The value of the item at time of transfer might be
substantially lower than stated in the data.
Transferred Units by Price
Unit Cost
Units
$0
38
$1 - $250
36
$251 - $5,000
2
$5001 - $10,000
471
$10,001 - $20,000
3
$20,001 - $50,000
21
$50,001 - $100,000
240
>$100,001
176
Findings: Federal Contracts and Grants
USAspending.gov, the online database that details
federal spending and assistance, includes at least
173 contracts and grants totalling $8.85 million for
unmanned ground vehicles for law enforcement.
These contracts and grants were issued between
2007 and 2016 by the Department of Justice
and the Department of Homeland Security. The
majority of these funds—$6.25 million—were
allocated for federal agencies such as the FBI. Of
the 173 transactions, city and state law enforcement
jurisdictions received 25 grants totalling $2.63
million to purchase or upgrade robots. In 2015,
there were 42 contracts and grants awarded, more
than any previous year.
While it cannot be confirmed that this data presents
a full accounting of contracts and grants for law
enforcement robots, it does offer insight into the
distribution of funds. For example, nine of the top
ten biggest contracts for robots awarded by the DoJ
went to either the FBI or ATF. The city of Billings,
Montana received a $151,000 DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to re-organize its
teams of bomb squads and to purchase an additional robot.
Northrop Grumman Remotec, Inc., the maker of the
ANDROS robots, was the single largest awardee of
DHS and DoJ contracts, receiving $2.43 million,
followed by ReconRobotics with $900,514. ReconRobotics, a Minnesota-based company, makes the
Throwbot, a reconnaissance robot popular among
law enforcement and military personnel.
Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet
Platforms
PackBot Specifications
The majority of the robots currently in service with
law enforcement agencies are remotely-controlled
by an operator and are designed for bomb disposal
or reconnaissance. Here is a selection of some of
the most popular robots used by law enforcement.
TALON
Length
35 in
Width
20.5 in
Height
7 in
Weight
24 lbs
Max Speed
5.8 mph
Arm Lift
Capacity
30 lbs
Range
4 mi
Run Time
4 hrs
The QinetiQ Talon series are a variety of tracked
unmanned ground vehicles for military, law
enforcement, and first responder applications. The
Talon platform can equipped with multiple cameras
capable of high-definition video capture, an
extendable arm for gripping objects, and a two-way
communications system.
TALON Specifications
Length
34 in
Width
22.5 in
Height
33 in
Weight
115 lbs
Max Speed
5.2 mph
Payload
25-100 lbs
Audio Range
.5 mi
Run Time
3 hrs
MARCbot
The Multi-function Agile Remote-Controlled Robot
(MARCbot) is a small, low cost unmanned ground
vehicle made by Exponent Inc. Like the PackBot
and other similar robots, the MARCbot was
developed in the early 2000s in response to threats
posed by IEDs to U.S. forces in Iraq.
MARCbot Specifications
PackBot
The iRobot PackBot is an unmanned ground robot
used for reconnaissance and explosive ordnance
disposal. It is one of the most widely used ground
robots in existence, with thousands of units sold to
military, security, and law enforcement customers.
This small tracked robot can climb stairs, operate
under one meter of water and navigate through
rubble.
Length
24 in
Width
19.5 in
Height
13.5 in
Weight
32 lbs
Range
980 ft
Run Time
6 hrs
Law Enforcement Robots Datasheet
Sources
ANDROS F6
The Northrop Grumman Remotec ANDROS F6 is a
heavy-duty unmanned ground vehicle designed for
explosive ordnance disposal. The ANDROS is one
of the largest and most expensive robots in its class.
ANDROS F6 Specifications
Length
3.3 ft
Width
1.5 ft
Height
4.9 ft
Weight
441 lbs
Max Speed
3 mph
Run Time
3-4 hrs
The 1033 Program data was obtained from the
website of the Law Enforcement Support Office
at the Defense Logistics Agency. The contracts
and grants data was obtained from USAspending.
gov, an online database of federal government
transactions. The platform specifications were
obtained from the manufacturer websites and
product brochures.
Images
Staff Sgt. Maria Bowman
Multi-National Corps Iraq Public Affairs
Staff Sgt. Brian Kohl / U.S. Army
Senior Airman Janelle Patiño / U.S. Air Force
Sgt. Derek Kuhn / U.S. Army
Airman 1st Class Eboni Reece / U.S. Air Force
Accessed via the Defense Imagery and Video
Database
Nathan Reece provided data analysis support.
About
ThrowBot
The ReconRobotics Throwbot XT is a small unmanned ground system that can be literally thrown
into a potentially dangerous or inaccessible space
in order to collect video data. It is designed to be
used by infantry, engineering, and explosive ordnance disposal units, as well as by law enforcement
officers.
The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard
College is an interdisciplinary research institution
founded in 2012 that examines the novel and
complex opportunities and challenges presented
by unmanned technologies in both the military and
civilian sphere.
30 Campus Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
12504
ThrowBot Specifications
Length
8.2 in
Width
7.6 in
Height
4.5 in
Weight
1.2 lbs
Max Speed
1.5 fps
Throw Shock
Resistance
120 ft
Range
300 ft
Run Time
1 hr
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly
stated that law enforcement agencies paid a discounted rate
to acquire these systems. Law enforcement agencies do not
purchase these items.